Evening Quote by Walter Cronkite
“The democratic system is challenged by the failure in television because our evening news programmes have gone for an attempt to entertain as much as to inform in the desperate fight for ratings.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Commentary on Media, Walter Cronkite, 1990s
The media prioritizes entertainment over factual reporting, weakening democratic discourse.
In simple terms: News seeks ratings, not truth.
Key Takeaway
Demand accurate news.
Themes
media
democracy
information
entertainment
ratings
Mood
concerned
critical
Type
observational
critical
When to use this quote
- voting
- public debate
- media literacy
Key Concepts
journalism
public sphere
critical thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- How does entertainment focus affect public opinion?
- What can citizens do to seek factual news?
A Different Perspective
Ratings pressure can distort facts.
![“A handful of us determine what will be on the evening news broadcasts, or, for that matter, in the New York Times or Washington Post or Wall Street Journal. Indeed it is a handful of us with this awesome power.And those [news stories] available to us already have been culled and re-culled by…” quote by Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f04/walter-cronkite-1759_available_a-handful-of-us-determine-what-will-be-o_2275161.jpg)
